“DEMOCRACY: it is controlled by capitalist ownership and control of the media, grants from tax-free foundations and favoured press coverage for favoured political candidates. Wide franchise to vote is given to the people to make them easier to control by making them think that “the people” are responsible for the inevitable distortions and negative consequences of the policies the super-rich mattoids impose in order to serve their selfish interests. Democracy separates authority from responsibility, this making it virtually impossible for the voters to reform the system. Those in authority (the mattoids) have no responsibility. Those responsible (the politicians) have no authority except that which is lent to them by their controllers.“
Source:
W. A. Carto. May 20, 2003 in “Populism vs Plutocracy: The Universal Struggle” and cited in ”Publisher’s Note” in “The Third Rome: Holy Russia, Tsarism and Orthodoxy” by Matthew Raphael Johnson (first published 2003 – Third Edition 2010)
___
Of topical interest – just sharing for a rainy day
• (Lie of Democracy) The great falsehood of our time - Konstantin Pobedonostev (1898)
I thought Eric’s response that “democracy needs to be measured by outcome not by procedure” was the perfect response as we now know that our [‘Western’] ‘democratic elections’ are completely controlled and corrupt.
___
A final quote:
“What […] goes by the name of democracy is in most cases little other than the apt manipulation of public opinion by means of money and the press, and the equally apt manipulation of the results hereby achieved. How easily, however, are these supposed democracies stripped bare of their pretenses when one takes a close look at their stance in matters of foreign policy … “
Fantastic discussion, Jeff. Thank you for bringing such a wide variety of guest speakers and insights to China Rising Radio Sinoland. I now have Ramin’s books on my immediate wish list. As you know already, I have read two of yours – China Rising and the Big Red Book.
As an aside, I have observed that people often argue with each other over ideology when in fact they are both using incorrect definitions of that very ‘ideology’ and are actually arguing for essentially the same thing. For example, is China “Communist” or is it “Socialist with Chinse characteristics”?
Having said that, I resonated with much more of this interview than I differed with, and it provides a great springboard for discussion. I would just like to add a couple of anecdotes which are implicitly topical.
<b>On Catherine II (“Catherine the Great”) – “benevolent Despotism”</b>
[By the way, Catherine was from Stettin, Germany (now in Poland) – born Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg (‘minor nobility’). Catherine was her adopted name upon conversion to Orthodoxy.]
From Robert K Massie’s “Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman”.
<b>“Books were her refuge. Having set herself to learn the Russian language, she read every Russian book she could find. But French was the language she preferred and she read French books indiscriminately, picking up whatever her ladies-in-waiting happened to be reading. She always kept a book in her room and another one in her pocket. She discovered the “Letters of Madame de Sévigné” describing life at the court of Louis XIV. When a “General History of Germany” by Father [William Vincent] Barré, recently published in France in ten volumes, arrived in Russia, Catherine read a volume every week. She acquired the “Dictionnaire Historique et Critique” by the French philosopher Pierre Bayle, a seventeenth century philosophical freethinker and precursor of Montesquieu and Voltaire. Catherine read it from beginning to end. Gradually, guided by her own curiosity, she was acquiring a superior education.”</b>
[To add context, Sophie/Catherine’s early life from childhood through to young adulthood was marked with rejection and isolation – even after she was brought to Russia by Elizabeth - you have to read it for yourself to appreciate it.]
<b>“To shield herself and to make life bearable, she turned again to books. That winter she read the “Annals” of Tacitus, Montesquieu’s “L’Espirit des Lois” (“The Spirit of Laws”) and Voltaire’s “Esai sur les Moeurs et L’Espirit des Nations” (“Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations”) [….]
“[Of Voltaire …] Reason, not religion [] should govern the world. But certain human beings must act as reason’s representatives on earth. This led him to the role of despotism and to conclude that a despotic government may actually be the best sort of government possible – if it were reasonable. But to be reasonable, it must be enlightened; if enlightened, it may be both efficient and benevolent
[…]
Catherine, like many of her contemporaries was charmed by Voltaire. […]
Here was a philosopher who could teach her how to survive and laugh - AND HOW TO RULE.”</b>
(Some thoughts on ‘Democracy’ to follow when time permits …)
Julius Skoolafish, Its easy to discern through the historical original meanings of words, whether a scam is afoot. 'Community' (Latin 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service') is the foundation upon which earlier 18 & 19th century advocates posed 'communism'. This original meaning was perverted by such 'exogenous' (L 'other-generated') $ puppets as Lev Davidovich Bronstein, aka Trotsky in subservience to his millions of $ (1917) financing by Jacob Schiff head of the NY Stock Exchange & Schiff's colleague Warburg's millions $ financing of Lenin. See Wall Street & the Bolshevik Revolution by Antony Sutton. Then we come to 'Socialism' (L 'socius' = 'friend'), which like 'communism' implies an economic 'society-of-friends' in Mutual-Aid as a bottom-up fractal community-led approach. I lived among First Nation, American pacifist, Russian Doukhobor, German Mennonite & English Quaker communities for the decade of the 1970s to understand some of the spirit of these movements. The Anabaptist communities here went astray with the tragic 'Rochdale' misinterpretation of the word 'co-operatives' (originally 'co' = 'together' + 'operatives' = 'stakeholders'). All the Anabaptist & European pacifist colonies such as Zionist Kibbutz, tragically based their invasions & developments in 'One-member/One-vote, which does not recognize or empower the unique contributions of each stakeholder nor allow all to be distinguished, each unique in associations. Although such as Marx & Engels were very much beholding & attuned to the writings of Lewis Henry Morgan author of 'Ancient Society' through his decades among the 'Haudenosaunee' (Iroquois 'People-of-the-extended-rafters' aka 'Welcome') 6 Nations of Northern New York, European socialists & communists could not really understand the 'indigenous' (L 'self-generating') 'economic'(Greek 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'care-&-nurture') paradigms proposed in such as 'Das Kapital'. or Petr Kropotkin's 'Mutual-Aid'. Das Kapital is really Marx & Engels' recreation of the essential time-based, equivalency accounting practices once common worldwide on the String-shell Value system. String-shell was employed in the collective domestic economy of the ~100(50-150) person Multihome-Dwelling-Complex (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) as well as the specialized Production-Society-Guilds, which represented progressive-ownership contributors to collective Domestic, Industrial & Commercial economies. The indigenous economy system was once innate to all humankind, such as Celtic & Slavic Europe, but these concepts get perverted with ongoing endless violence of invasion, genocide & occupation. Most accounting in our modern economies is actually time-based, equivalency as practiced in Payroll time-sheets & inventory. Huawei as a participatory company understands this value & has wonderful collective-intelligence & excellent design because. Participatory companies have universally not understood the enormous value of including the collective domestic economy such as women tend to dominate in Balance-Sheets & on company (L 'com' + 'pan' = 'bread') Boards of Directors. Here's a modern application of Multistakeholder Participatory-Accounting, which I helped innovate in transforming companies to Participatory governance. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/participatory-accounting
Jeff Brown & Ramin Mazaheri, From listening to your insightful discussion, I believe you are unaware as are all colonially indoctrinated peoples today of all humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') heritage ancient 'fractal' ('fraction, multiplier, building-block, where-the-part-contains-the-whole') system of 'Kings' from the root 'Kin' = 'family'. Kings were elected heads of the ~100 (50-150) person Multihome-Dwelling-Complexes (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) & Production-Society-Guilds as a system of Economic-Democracy. Guilds were specialized production groups of individuals with universal progressive ownership of their means of production. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/8-economic-democracy
The worldwide system of time-based equivalency accounting upon the String-shell (eg. Wampum on Turtle-Island/N. America, Quipu in S. America & Cowrie in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia & all islands.) is based in local intimate issue of an integrated Capital, Currency, Condolence, Educational-Credit, time-math-Communication, professional-Costume Value system. indigenous Relational Economy. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy
We reject our ancient indigenous systems only from ignorance, perverted by oligarch commanded colonial institutional indoctrination. These ancient 10s of 1000s of years old indigenous systems have the human structures needed for sustainable loving, caring, sharing appropriate-scale fractal human-relations as in our own physical body's integrated system of Economic Memory. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/3-economic-memory
Thoughts on Democracy
This 90-second clip says it all …
• This is what mind control[/democracy] looks like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfu_RIdGT2A
___
“DEMOCRACY: it is controlled by capitalist ownership and control of the media, grants from tax-free foundations and favoured press coverage for favoured political candidates. Wide franchise to vote is given to the people to make them easier to control by making them think that “the people” are responsible for the inevitable distortions and negative consequences of the policies the super-rich mattoids impose in order to serve their selfish interests. Democracy separates authority from responsibility, this making it virtually impossible for the voters to reform the system. Those in authority (the mattoids) have no responsibility. Those responsible (the politicians) have no authority except that which is lent to them by their controllers.“
Source:
W. A. Carto. May 20, 2003 in “Populism vs Plutocracy: The Universal Struggle” and cited in ”Publisher’s Note” in “The Third Rome: Holy Russia, Tsarism and Orthodoxy” by Matthew Raphael Johnson (first published 2003 – Third Edition 2010)
___
Of topical interest – just sharing for a rainy day
• (Lie of Democracy) The great falsehood of our time - Konstantin Pobedonostev (1898)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2xIMLItRWk
From the book
• “Reflections of a Russian statesman" (1898) by Konstantin Pobedonostev
https://archive.org/details/reflectionsofrus00pobeuoft
Pobedonostev is discussed here by Matthew Raphael Johnson…
• Matthew Raphael Johnson discusses Konstantin Pobedonostsev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmzwoVLEouM
___
This then makes sense – a slightly different perspective on “the only two choices” …
• Matthew Raphael Johnson - The Superiority of Monarchy (versus Oligarchy - which governs 'Democracy')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpW0UBHggxU&list=PLPPNay9z7eEofzPNWe_cex5xn0XOQDrqJ
___
And this is appropriate:
• Can the Chinese Communist Party Rule for Another 100 Years? – Eric Li
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr75blwvIHo
I thought Eric’s response that “democracy needs to be measured by outcome not by procedure” was the perfect response as we now know that our [‘Western’] ‘democratic elections’ are completely controlled and corrupt.
___
A final quote:
“What […] goes by the name of democracy is in most cases little other than the apt manipulation of public opinion by means of money and the press, and the equally apt manipulation of the results hereby achieved. How easily, however, are these supposed democracies stripped bare of their pretenses when one takes a close look at their stance in matters of foreign policy … “
___
Over and out for now.
Great links, thanks. Yes, the CPC will rule as long as they remember Mao's great mantra,
SERVE THE PEOPLE!
... and maintain their heavenly mandate ... :-)
Fantastic discussion, Jeff. Thank you for bringing such a wide variety of guest speakers and insights to China Rising Radio Sinoland. I now have Ramin’s books on my immediate wish list. As you know already, I have read two of yours – China Rising and the Big Red Book.
As an aside, I have observed that people often argue with each other over ideology when in fact they are both using incorrect definitions of that very ‘ideology’ and are actually arguing for essentially the same thing. For example, is China “Communist” or is it “Socialist with Chinse characteristics”?
Having said that, I resonated with much more of this interview than I differed with, and it provides a great springboard for discussion. I would just like to add a couple of anecdotes which are implicitly topical.
<b>On Catherine II (“Catherine the Great”) – “benevolent Despotism”</b>
[By the way, Catherine was from Stettin, Germany (now in Poland) – born Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg (‘minor nobility’). Catherine was her adopted name upon conversion to Orthodoxy.]
From Robert K Massie’s “Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman”.
<b>“Books were her refuge. Having set herself to learn the Russian language, she read every Russian book she could find. But French was the language she preferred and she read French books indiscriminately, picking up whatever her ladies-in-waiting happened to be reading. She always kept a book in her room and another one in her pocket. She discovered the “Letters of Madame de Sévigné” describing life at the court of Louis XIV. When a “General History of Germany” by Father [William Vincent] Barré, recently published in France in ten volumes, arrived in Russia, Catherine read a volume every week. She acquired the “Dictionnaire Historique et Critique” by the French philosopher Pierre Bayle, a seventeenth century philosophical freethinker and precursor of Montesquieu and Voltaire. Catherine read it from beginning to end. Gradually, guided by her own curiosity, she was acquiring a superior education.”</b>
[To add context, Sophie/Catherine’s early life from childhood through to young adulthood was marked with rejection and isolation – even after she was brought to Russia by Elizabeth - you have to read it for yourself to appreciate it.]
<b>“To shield herself and to make life bearable, she turned again to books. That winter she read the “Annals” of Tacitus, Montesquieu’s “L’Espirit des Lois” (“The Spirit of Laws”) and Voltaire’s “Esai sur les Moeurs et L’Espirit des Nations” (“Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations”) [….]
“[Of Voltaire …] Reason, not religion [] should govern the world. But certain human beings must act as reason’s representatives on earth. This led him to the role of despotism and to conclude that a despotic government may actually be the best sort of government possible – if it were reasonable. But to be reasonable, it must be enlightened; if enlightened, it may be both efficient and benevolent
[…]
Catherine, like many of her contemporaries was charmed by Voltaire. […]
Here was a philosopher who could teach her how to survive and laugh - AND HOW TO RULE.”</b>
(Some thoughts on ‘Democracy’ to follow when time permits …)
Thanks, mate. Sorry, way behind on my emails. I share your comments on Telegram...
Julius Skoolafish, Its easy to discern through the historical original meanings of words, whether a scam is afoot. 'Community' (Latin 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service') is the foundation upon which earlier 18 & 19th century advocates posed 'communism'. This original meaning was perverted by such 'exogenous' (L 'other-generated') $ puppets as Lev Davidovich Bronstein, aka Trotsky in subservience to his millions of $ (1917) financing by Jacob Schiff head of the NY Stock Exchange & Schiff's colleague Warburg's millions $ financing of Lenin. See Wall Street & the Bolshevik Revolution by Antony Sutton. Then we come to 'Socialism' (L 'socius' = 'friend'), which like 'communism' implies an economic 'society-of-friends' in Mutual-Aid as a bottom-up fractal community-led approach. I lived among First Nation, American pacifist, Russian Doukhobor, German Mennonite & English Quaker communities for the decade of the 1970s to understand some of the spirit of these movements. The Anabaptist communities here went astray with the tragic 'Rochdale' misinterpretation of the word 'co-operatives' (originally 'co' = 'together' + 'operatives' = 'stakeholders'). All the Anabaptist & European pacifist colonies such as Zionist Kibbutz, tragically based their invasions & developments in 'One-member/One-vote, which does not recognize or empower the unique contributions of each stakeholder nor allow all to be distinguished, each unique in associations. Although such as Marx & Engels were very much beholding & attuned to the writings of Lewis Henry Morgan author of 'Ancient Society' through his decades among the 'Haudenosaunee' (Iroquois 'People-of-the-extended-rafters' aka 'Welcome') 6 Nations of Northern New York, European socialists & communists could not really understand the 'indigenous' (L 'self-generating') 'economic'(Greek 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'care-&-nurture') paradigms proposed in such as 'Das Kapital'. or Petr Kropotkin's 'Mutual-Aid'. Das Kapital is really Marx & Engels' recreation of the essential time-based, equivalency accounting practices once common worldwide on the String-shell Value system. String-shell was employed in the collective domestic economy of the ~100(50-150) person Multihome-Dwelling-Complex (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) as well as the specialized Production-Society-Guilds, which represented progressive-ownership contributors to collective Domestic, Industrial & Commercial economies. The indigenous economy system was once innate to all humankind, such as Celtic & Slavic Europe, but these concepts get perverted with ongoing endless violence of invasion, genocide & occupation. Most accounting in our modern economies is actually time-based, equivalency as practiced in Payroll time-sheets & inventory. Huawei as a participatory company understands this value & has wonderful collective-intelligence & excellent design because. Participatory companies have universally not understood the enormous value of including the collective domestic economy such as women tend to dominate in Balance-Sheets & on company (L 'com' + 'pan' = 'bread') Boards of Directors. Here's a modern application of Multistakeholder Participatory-Accounting, which I helped innovate in transforming companies to Participatory governance. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/participatory-accounting
Jeff Brown & Ramin Mazaheri, From listening to your insightful discussion, I believe you are unaware as are all colonially indoctrinated peoples today of all humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') heritage ancient 'fractal' ('fraction, multiplier, building-block, where-the-part-contains-the-whole') system of 'Kings' from the root 'Kin' = 'family'. Kings were elected heads of the ~100 (50-150) person Multihome-Dwelling-Complexes (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) & Production-Society-Guilds as a system of Economic-Democracy. Guilds were specialized production groups of individuals with universal progressive ownership of their means of production. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/8-economic-democracy
The indigenous 'Circle-of-Life' system is complex in its integrity as an interdisciplinary system with a whole range of checks & balances. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/home/indigenous-circle-of-life
The worldwide system of time-based equivalency accounting upon the String-shell (eg. Wampum on Turtle-Island/N. America, Quipu in S. America & Cowrie in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia & all islands.) is based in local intimate issue of an integrated Capital, Currency, Condolence, Educational-Credit, time-math-Communication, professional-Costume Value system. indigenous Relational Economy. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy
We reject our ancient indigenous systems only from ignorance, perverted by oligarch commanded colonial institutional indoctrination. These ancient 10s of 1000s of years old indigenous systems have the human structures needed for sustainable loving, caring, sharing appropriate-scale fractal human-relations as in our own physical body's integrated system of Economic Memory. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/3-economic-memory
Thanks for all your comments and links, Douglas. Looking forward to getting you on my show soon.